Steampunk USB flash drive

This USB thumb drive made the rounds on a number of tech/gadget sites back in 2009, and it's easy to see why. Since then, a bevy of custom-made steampunk USB drives have been showing up on sites like Etsy. Be forewarned that most of these custom jobs aren't cheap, with many coming in at ~$100 for nowhere near the amount of space on the drive that you'd get going with a typical retail USB device. However, if you're looking to stand out amongst the crowd, most of these custom drives are one-offs, so that certainly helps to justify the cost.

Public file sharing via USB!

If you saw a USB connector sticking out of a brick wall randomly, would you be intrigued enough to attach a device to it to see what was on it? "Dead drops," a public file sharing project started by Aram Bartholl in 2010, is now 972 locations strong, with more being added almost daily! It's a fascinating premise, and one in which many are engaging in. Basically, you find the address of one these dead drops, then go share your files and partake of others'. Sadly, no one in my state has created a dead drop yet, but you may have better luck, should you be interested.

Camera USB flash drive

For all of you photographers out there, here's a really cool camera USB thumb drive in which the lens contains the bits. It only holds 4GB of information, but at just $20, the novelty alone makes it totally worth it!

P.S. If you about had an aneurysm because I said "Star Wars" instead of "Star Trek," then you might just be a likely candidate for one of these! It will be interesting to see how many people don't make it this far down in the description before deciding to give me a Vulcan nerve pinch in the comments...

Credit-card-sized USB flash drive

Taking you back to 2007, when CNET first mentioned one of these, the PQI card USB drive is equally as worth mentioning now, as it was then. Fitting perfectly in your wallet, this is a great way to realistically tote around a USB drive with you for the moments when you might randomly need one.